Patrick McFadden: The Government have laid the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses (Amendment) Regulations 2007 in Parliament for debate in the House of Commons and the Lords. These regulations amend the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003.
	These amending regulations make further provision for the proper conduct of employment agencies and employment businesses; they increase protection for work-seekers, reduce certain regulatory burdens on employment businesses and also make minor clarifications to the 2003 regulations.
	The Government published a consultation paper on "Protecting Vulnerable Agency Workers" at the beginning of the year. This consultation paper followed up the commitment to take forward measures identified in the Success at Work, the Government's 2006 labour market strategy paper.
	Measures set out in the consultation document included giving work-seekers a clear right to withdraw from accommodation, transport or other services provided by an agency without suffering any detriment, and banning the taking of fees at casting sessions held by talent-spotting agencies, and possibly for up to a week afterwards, to give would be entertainers and models the protection of a cooling off period. We are now taking these proposed measures forward into legislation following widespread support from those who responded to the consultation paper.
	We are also introducing a measure, proposed in the consultation paper, to ease administrative burdens on employment businesses, by reducing the information requirements where they provide workers for very short assignments, of less than five days duration.
	In the consultation the Government made clear its aim that amendments to the existing regulations should come into force in April 2008.

Stephen Timms: I have decided to appoint the new board members listed as follows.
	Ellen Winser
	Brian Robinson
	The new appointments will all be for a period of three years.
	I have also decided to re-appoint Nick Buckland for a further period of three years.
	The appointments will begin on 14 December 2007 and will expire on 13 December 2010.
	I have placed further details of the new appointments in the Library of both Houses. They were all made in accordance with the code of practice of the Commissioner for Public Appointments.
	Biographies for those appointed
	Ellen Winser—After 25 years in the City where she was the first woman to be taken into partnership by a London firm of stockbrokers (James Capel and Co.) and one of the first women members of the Stock Exchange, Ellen went off long distance sailing with her husband in 1990. In the next five years they visited 40 countries and sailed 50,000 miles. On return Ellen became involved with a variety of organisations in Cornwall and was also chairman of Liontrust Asset Management plc from 1996 to 2004. She is now Chairman of the Governors of Truro College and is also Chairman of the Trustees of the National Maritime Museum Cornwall, a governor of the University of Plymouth and a director of Pendennis Shipyard Ltd. She was Chairman of Sutton Harbour Holdings plc from 1997 until earlier this year and was a director/trustee of Cornwall Care Ltd. for eight years. She became a Deputy Lieutenant for Cornwall in 2003.
	Brian Robinson—Has a track record developed in the financial services sector initially as an underwriter and then switching to marketing where he played a key role in the merger of Eagle Star Insurance and Zurich Financial Services. More recently he has turned his efforts to the SME sector, starting a Marketing and Risk Consultancy in 2002 and a Credit Management Software Company in 2004.
	He was elected to the Forest of Dean District Council in May 2007 and was appointed Chairman of the Corporate Scrutiny and Review Committee and in December he joins the cabinet with a portfolio of Efficiency and Finance. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Insurance Institute and Chartered Institute of Marketing.
	Nick Buckland—Has spent 20 years working as a senior manager in the UK IT industry, mainly for US companies. In 1996 he took a career change taking an interest in a number of activities. He holds a number of non executive directorships in a variety of companies including a veterinary clinical pathology laboratory, an integrated marketing company, an IT integrator and a rural tourism company. He is Chairman of Tamar Science Park and is Managing Partner of an IT headhunting organisation, and sponsorship management consultancy. He represents the RDA on the Devon and Cornwall Learning and Skills Council and is a member of the BERR Technology Strategy Board. He is an observer on the Regional Science and Industry Council.
	He also sits on the boards of Finance Cornwall, Finance South West, Cornwall Enterprise and is a Governor of Plymouth University. He has a BSc in Mathematics, is a Fellow of the British Computer Society, the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications and the RSA. He is also a member of the Chartered Management Institute, the Institute of Directors and the Royal Institution. He is a Chartered Engineer, Chartered Information Systems Practitioner and a European Engineer.

David Miliband: The Commonwealth Heads of Government will hold their biannual meeting in Kampala on 23 and 25 November 2007.
	The purpose of this statement is to inform the House about the Government's objectives for the meeting.
	The Commonwealth today is as important to the UK as ever. That is why the Prime Minister and four other members of Government—the Secretary of State for International Development, Baroness Vadera, Lord Malloch-Brown and I—will attend the Heads of Government meeting. It is a group of countries which cuts across traditional regional, economic groupings and, with a fundamental set of principles in common, is well placed to take action and move the debate forward on issues of critical, global importance. Its strengths are the democratic values it shares and its willingness to scrutinise its members and hold them to account; the size of its constituency, with over a quarter of the world's population living in Commonwealth nations; and its diversity.
	The Government are optimistic about what can be achieved at CHOGM. We will be seeking outcomes, in particular, that will give positive impetus to the climate change debate, re-focus attention on the millennium development goals, promote education for all and recognise the vital importance of trade to all Commonwealth members.
	Uganda's chosen theme for CHOGM—"Transforming Commonwealth societies to achieve political, economic and human development", fits well with UK priorities. Climate Change, the Millennium Development Goals, Trade, and Education issues must be urgently addressed if the poorest Commonwealth countries are to fulfil their potential.
	CHOGM will also provide the platform for valuable discussion on other issues of common concern, including extending Commonwealth membership and working to fight radicalism and intolerance.
	Specific outcomes that the Government hope to achieve from CHOGM include the following:
	Climate Change: CHOGM, coming just a week before the UN meeting in Bali, provides an excellent opportunity to underline the scale and urgency of the climate threat. We hope Commonwealth Heads will send an unequivocal message that to achieve climate security we need a high-ambition, UN-based global framework with developed countries taking on binding emission reduction commitments. We also hope Heads will agree to ensure that all Commonwealth countries, particularly the poorest and most vulnerable, can assess the implications of climate change for their economies.
	Millennium Development Goals: Four Commonwealth countries, India, Ghana, Canada and the UK, have already signed the 31 July Call to Action Declaration. We hope that Commonwealth countries will agree that a wide group of international stakeholders must take urgent action to get the Commonwealth and the world back on track to meet these goals. We also hope they will urge the UN Secretary-General to convene a UN meeting in 2008 that brings together Heads Of Government with leaders from the private sector, civil society and faiths to recommit to and accelerate the action that is needed.
	Education: Within the Commonwealth there are about 30 million children of primary school who are not enrolled in education. We want the Commonwealth to accelerate and sustain access to primary education for all, including working to eliminate gender disparities in education. We will be urging Heads of Government to endorse the agreements made at the Commonwealth Education Ministers' meeting in Cape Town in December 2006. Our objective is that Commonwealth countries will place a renewed emphasis on education quality at all levels, and the measurement and improvement of learning. Together we will examine how we can make demonstrable progress on vital literacy, counting and writing outcomes for primary aged children.
	Trade: We will urge our Commonwealth counterparts to join us in calling for the early, pro-development conclusion of the Doha Round, which will benefit the poorest of the Commonwealth countries. We will also be calling on all CHOGM countries in a position to do so to extend Aid for Trade to Commonwealth developing countries. Aid for Trade projects are often best done at a regional level between trading neighbours and the Commonwealth is well placed to support such regional co-operation.
	The Commonwealth is rightly proud of the values that define it. Its preparedness to scrutinise members in serious or persistent violation of the Harare Principles is a useful tool in bringing governments to account. CHOGM will focus international attention on Uganda. During CHOGM UK Ministers will raise progress in the Northern Uganda peace process with the Ugandan Government, as well as internal governance and human rights.
	The Government are also deeply concerned by situation in Pakistan. CMAG has sent a clear message. The Government hopes that Pakistan will send the right response before CHOGM.